Jeffrey Frankel

Jeffrey Frankel

About the author:

James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University. Director of Program in International Finance and Macroeconomics at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Over the years, politicians in advanced economies have tended to favour fiscal expansion during economic booms and austerity during recessions. But while a pro-cyclical policy is understandable from a political perspective, it also explains why these economies are rarely prepared for a crisis and why they eventually face so much difficulty recovering.

29 June 2011. Rising food prices affect everyone. Some demographic groups – namely the poor – are affected more than others. As food prices continue to be highly volatile, Jeffrey Frankel asks; can food prices can be stabilized? And asserts that speculators could potentially act as “detectors of change” or “stabilizing forces”.